Spiral conveyer



- mammal.

A. G. MATHER. SPIRAL GONVEYER.

No. 533,479. Patented Feb. 5, 1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT @rricn.

ALLAN G. MATHER, OF MILWVAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

SPIRAL CONVEYER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 533,479, dated February 5, 1895.

Application filed July 30,1894:-

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLAN G. MATHER, of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Spiral Conveyors, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of spiral conveyers adapted, by means of a shaft having flights thereon revolving in a tube or case, for moving grain, flour, bran or other comminuted or plastic material.

The invention is embodied in the novel construction of the flights and the means for securing them detachably or reversibly to the shaft, and their several parts or their equivalents.

In the drawings, Figure 1, is an elevation of a flight secured by my improved devices to a shaft, the shaft being shown in cross section. Fig. 2, is an elevation of a fragment of the shaft, showing also two of my improved flights secured thereto by my improved devices therefor. Fig. 3, is an elevation of the same structure shown in Fig. 2, the view being at a right angle revolubly of the shaft, to the view in Fig. 2. Fig. 4, is an elevation of my improved devices, the view being substantially the same as that seen in Fig. 1, except that the position of the parts, is such as to illustrate. the method of putting the flight on to the shaft or removing it therefrom. Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 show the several parts of my improved structure, in detail, and disassembled. Fig. 9, is a modified form of the clamp.

In the drawings, A is the shaft, which is commonly, with reference to convenience and inexpensiveness, of gas pipe, though a solid rod or other form of shaft might be used if desired. The flight B is preferably made of sheet steel, being readily swaged therefrom in the substantially semielliptical form shown in Fig. 5. This form is such that when the flight is secured to the shaft at an oblique angle thereto, the curved perimeter of the flight, describes a true circle when the shaft revolves. Two of these flights secured to the shaft adjacent to each other and on opposite sides of the shaft in the manner shown in Figs. 2 and 3 form aspiral or screw adapted,

Serial No. 518,934. (No model.)

when inclosed in a tubular case, and by the rotation of the shaft, to move or convey grain or other material forward in the tube or c0nveyer.

For placing the flights on the shaft, and securing them thereto by my improved devices a recess is cut in the flight, centrally of its straight edge in such form as to provide edges or shoulders O O at such distance apart, as when the flight is in position obliquely on the shaft, to fit against the opposite sides of the shaft and to be preferably substantially tangential thereto. The recess is also of sufficient depth to admit the shaft therein, to an extent slightly greater than the half of its diarheter. Also at the bottom the recess is extended farther into the flight so as to provide two other shoulders or bearings D D, which preferably diverge outwardly radially. TlllS extended or auxiliary recess is dove-tailed in form, the shoulders or hearing edges 1) D which are the side walls of the recess, being substantially in radial lines from the center of the shaft when the flight is in position on the shaft as shown in the drawings, the under-cut formed by the divergence of these walls being sufficient to be securely engaged by the correspondingly diverging lugs or outwardly turned ends of the clamps used therefor.

To secure the flight to the shaft a clamp is used, which consists of two semi circular bands E E, the bands being provided at one extremity with the outwardly projecting radially diverging lugs F F and at the other on tremity with the outwardly projecting lugs G G. A binding screw H passing loosely through the lug G turns by its thread into the lug G being thus adapted for drawing the parts of the clamp toward each other. For conveniently applying or removing the band E its lug G is provided with a recess I to receive the screw H, rather than with an aperture for the passage of the screw therethrough.

The substantially semi-circular bandsE D the flight to the shaft at the proper oblique angle thereto, the bands E E are placed about the shaft substantiallyin the positions shown in Fig. 4 and the flight B is then put on in such manner that the bearings D Dwill be opposite to and will receive the bearing laterally of the lugs F Fandthe shoulders O C will bear one against the front and the other against the rear edge of the clamp or bands E E. The screw H is then turned intothe lug G so as to draw those ends of the bands toward each other and to force the lugs F F outwardly against the bearings D D, thus by reason of their radial divergence and dovetailed form locking the flight to the shaft. At the same time the flight is secured in the proper oblique position to the shaft by reason of one of the shoulders 0 bearing against the front edge of the clamp at one side of the shaft while the other shoulder O bears against the rear edge of the clamp at the other side of the shaft. The clamp is made of the proper length (longitudinally of the shaft) to adapt it for the purpose of obtaining the proper obliquity of the flight, by this method of attachment. The method of drawing the lugs G A I and G toward each otherand securingthem in place, by means of the screw H is considered a simple and desirable device for this purpose, but anyother well knownand commonly used device for a similar purpose would be deemed an equivalent thereof.

In the modified form of clamp shown in Fig. 9, the stove-bolt and nut H is substituted for the bolt 11 in the other form of device; also the apertures K through the lugs G2 and G are elongated to provide for the requisite relative movements of the parts.

Thebands E and E -are otherwise substanhaving shoulders C G and bearings D D,and

a clamp consisting of two substantially semicircular bands provided at one extremity with lugs adapted to engage the bearings D D, and

at the other extremity with projections, and

means adapted to draw the latter toward each other and to force the lugs against the bearextremity, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses. I

ALLAN G. MATI-IER.

Witnesses:

O; T. BENEDICT, ANNA V. FAUST. 

